GT-X is a complete guitarist in one plugin. You send it MIDI notes and it plays them the way a guitarist would, through up to four rigs (each one an amp, a cab and a mic) blended into one sound, then chorus, delay and reverb. GT-X FX is the same rig for your own recorded guitar.
What you need
- Windows, 64-bit, and a DAW that loads VST3 plugins (or use the Standalone app)
- For GT-X: the Emilyguitar sample library, which the installer puts in the right place
- A MIDI keyboard is optional. The built-in Demo button and on-screen keys let you hear the rig without one.
1. Install
- Run the GT-X installer (
Cinderhall-GTX-Setup-<version>.exe). It needs administrator rights. - Leave VST3, GT-X FX VST3 and Standalone ticked unless you know you do not want them. The samples are always installed because GT-X needs them.
- Where things land:
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| VST3 plugins | C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ |
| Standalone apps | C:\Program Files\Cinderhall\GT-X\ |
| Guitar samples | C:\ProgramData\Cinderhall\GT-X\Samples\Emilyguitar |
| Your presets | Documents\Cinderhall\GT-X\Presets (the installer never touches this folder) |
- Rescan plugins in your DAW if it does not see GT-X right away.
Where GT-X looks for its samples, in this order:
C:\ProgramData\Cinderhall\GT-X\Samples\Emilyguitar- Amp Bench's sample folder, if Amp Bench is installed (the two share the library)
Documents\Cinderhall\GT-X\Samples\Emilyguitar
If none of these has the library, the top of the window says Guitar samples not found. The status lamp at the top right shows the state of the guitar.
GT-X FX does not use the guitar samples, so it works without them.
2. A tour of the window
The window has a top bar and three panels from left to right.
Top bar
- Preset window and arrows: click the name to open the preset list, or step with the left and right arrows. A small dot appears when you have edited a preset since loading it.
- Save: type a name and save your own rig. A preset holds the whole rig and the guitarist, but never the Quality setting.
- A / B: store two settings and flip between them to compare. Copy A to B copies one over the other.
- Help: Report a Bug, Send a Suggestion, Copy Diagnostic Info and About.
Panel 01: Guitarist (GT-X only)
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Role | Rhythm: riffs live on the low strings. Clean: every note rings into the next. Lead: your hand stays in one position and legato stays on the string. |
| Style | Clean, Shred, Bluesy or Djent. Sets how far legato reaches and how deep and fast the vibrato is. |
| Live Player | On: overlapping notes play legato (a hammer-on or pull-off for small steps, a slide for leaps) and held notes get vibrato. Rhythm plays as written. |
| Feedback | Held notes bloom into feedback after 2.5 seconds (Lead role, with the Live Player on). |
| Vibrato | How much vibrato the Live Player adds (Clean and Lead roles). |
| Pickup | Neck (round, warm) to bridge (tight, bright). |
| Tuning | E Standard, Drop D, Drop C#, Drop C, B Standard, Drop B, Drop A, Drop G# or Drop F. |
| Bend | How far the pitch wheel bends the ringing strings, 1 to 12 semitones. |
| Takes | 1 is a single guitar. 2 plays every part twice, a little apart, left and right. |
| Looseness | How far apart the two takes play, in timing and touch. |
| Width | How wide the two takes sit in the stereo field. |
| Playing | Shows the technique that is latched right now, with the keyswitch keys beneath it. |
Panel 02: Rigs
Rigs A, B, C and D each have a tab. Each rig is an amp, a cab and a mic. You can use one rig, or blend several.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| On | Puts the rig in or out of the blend. Only Rig A is on in a fresh GT-X. |
| Source | The rig's own amp, or another mic and cab on Rig A's or Rig B's amp. The second option costs no extra amp. A close mic plus a ribbon a foot back is the classic recipe. |
| Amp | One of 18 built-in amp models, or a neural amp capture (.nam file) you load for that rig. |
| Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble | The preamp and tone stack. The tone knobs interact, as on the real circuits. |
| Presence, Resonance | The power amp's top end and low thump. |
| Master | How hard the power tubes work (sag and power amp grit). |
| Pedal | Whether the drive pedal sits in front of this rig's amp. |
| Cab | A designed cab (speaker, mic and position), one of four recorded 4x12 cabs (Modern, Bright, Dark, Vintage), Your IR (a cab impulse response .wav you load), or Off (for a full-rig capture that has its own cab). |
| Mic | Dynamic 57, Dynamic 421, Dynamic 906, Smooth 7, Ribbon, Condenser or Room. |
| Mic Position | Centre of the cone (bright) to the edge (dark). |
| Mic Distance | On the grille (more bass) to a foot back (later, with less bass). |
| Level and Pan | The rig's level in the blend (-24 to +6 dB) and its place left to right. |
| Phase and Invert | Phase fine-tunes how rigs sit together, by ear. Invert flips polarity. The phase meter under each rig shows right when it is in phase. |
| Align (per rig) | Lets Auto Align move this rig. Turn it off on one rig to keep a room mic's natural delay. |
| Mute and Solo | For monitoring while you build a blend. Presets do not store them. |
Along the top of the panel:
- Align lines the rigs up in time and polarity so the blend never sounds hollow. Captures and built-in amps have different delays, so GT-X delays every rig to the slowest first.
- Split puts Rig A below a crossover and Rig B above it: weight from one amp, bite from another. The Split knob sets the crossover from 60 Hz to 4 kHz.
At the bottom of the panel:
- Demo plays a four-bar riff written for GT-X, looped at your host's tempo (120 BPM in the Standalone app). Click it again to stop. The first two bars are E minor power chords for the Rhythm sound, and the last two are a single-note line for the Lead sound.
- On-screen keys (E2 to E4) play one note at a time. Lower on a key plays harder, and dragging plays the keys in turn.
Panel 03: Pedals, effects and output
- Drive: a pedal in front of the amps. Types are TS, Klon, HM-2 and Fuzz, each with Drive, Tone and Level.
- Gate: a noise gate that listens to the guitar itself, after the amps. Thresh sets where it closes (-80 to -20 dB). Release runs from 5 to 500 ms: fast for djent stops, slower for ringing chords.
- Comp: a sustainer before the amps, with Sustain, Attack, Level and Blend (Blend mixes the dry under the squeezed sound).
- Wah: Position mode is rocked by the Position knob (automate it or park it). Auto mode follows your picking, and Sens sets how far the pick pushes it.
- Chorus: Rate, Depth and Mix.
- Delay: echo time locked to the song's tempo (from 1/32 up to 1/2, with triplet and dotted values), plus Repeats and Mix.
- Reverb: Size, Decay (0.2 to 10 seconds) and Mix.
- Output and the output meter.
- Quality: Eco (2x), Normal (4x) or HQ (8x) oversampling. It trades CPU for the last bit of smoothness. It is yours to set, and presets never change it.
3. Quick start: your first riff in five minutes
- Add GT-X to an instrument track in your DAW (or open the Standalone app).
- Wait for the status lamp at the top right to finish loading the guitar.
- Open the preset list and choose Modern Wall.
- Click Demo. You should hear the E minor power chords, then the single-note line.
- While it plays, open the Rig A tab and turn Gain up and down. Hear how the chords tighten and loosen.
- Drag the Pickup knob toward the neck, then back to the bridge.
- Switch Role to Lead and listen to the last two bars. The Live Player is now joining overlapping notes with legato and adding vibrato to held notes.
- Switch Takes between 1 and 2 to hear the double-tracked sound.
- Click Demo again to stop. Save your tweaks with Save.
Playing your own parts
Draw or record MIDI on the track. Write the fretted note. For a natural harmonic, write the note you want to hear. Notes above the 24th fret are fretted at 24 and bent up, as a player would.
Techniques are chosen by keyswitch (a note below the lowest string, which stays on until you choose another) or by CC 20.
| Key | Technique | Key | Technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| C0 (24) | open (clears) | F0 (29) | natural harmonic |
| C#0 (25) | palm mute | F#0 (30) | tap |
| D0 (26) | staccato | G0 (31) | tremolo picking |
| D#0 (27) | dead note | G#0 (32) | swell |
| E0 (28) | pinch harmonic | A0 (33) | let ring |
| A#0 (34) | legato |
Controllers
| Controller | What it does |
|---|---|
| CC 1 | Palm mute depth (medium until you send it) |
| CC 11 | Volume, for swells and fades |
| CC 20 | Any of the 19 techniques by number |
| CC 21 | Vibrato amount for the next notes |
| CC 22 | Pickup, neck to bridge |
| CC 23 | Whammy bar: 127 at rest, down to 24 semitones lower at 0 |
| Pitch wheel | Bends the ringing strings by the Bend range |
Low tunings. In Drop A, Drop G# and Drop F, some keyswitch keys sit at or above the lowest string, so those keys play notes instead (Drop A loses 33 and 34, Drop G# loses 32 to 34, Drop F loses 29 to 34). Those techniques stay available on CC 20. For parts that go below B1 you can also move the keyswitches an octave down with the Keyswitches setting (C-1).
4. Presets by genre
Every setting below comes from the factory presets, so you can load the preset by name or dial the values in by hand. Unlisted controls stay at their defaults. The amp, cab and mic names are Cinderhall's own; see the table of inspirations at the end.
Throughout: Mic is Dynamic 57, Mic Position 30%, Mic Distance 10%, Tuning E Standard.
Metalcore and modern metal: "Modern Wall"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Cali Dual, Gain 7, Bass 6, Mid 5, Treble 6.5, Presence 6, Resonance 6, Master 5, Cab Brit 30 XL
- Drive on: TS, Drive 1, Tone 6, Level 8
- Gate on: -50 dB, Release 60 ms
Classic chugs: "Block Chug"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Block 51, Gain 6.5, Bass 5, Mid 5, Treble 6, Presence 6, Resonance 5, Master 5, Cab Brit 75
- Drive on: TS, Drive 0.5, Tone 6, Level 8
- Gate on: -48 dB, Release 60 ms
Djent: "Stripe Djent"
- Role Rhythm, Style Djent, Takes 2
- Rig A: Stripe III, Gain 6, Bass 5.5, Mid 6, Treble 6, Presence 6.5, Resonance 5.5, Master 5, Cab Brit 30H
- Drive on: TS, Drive 0, Tone 6, Level 8
- Gate on: -45 dB, Release 25 ms (tight, for the stops)
Old-school death metal: "Swedish Chainsaw"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Brit 800, Gain 5, Bass 5, Mid 5, Treble 6, Presence 6, Resonance 5, Master 6, Cab Brit 75
- Drive on: HM-2, Drive 8, Tone 10, Level 6
- Gate on: -50 dB, Release 60 ms
Doom: "Doom Split"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Citrus Verb, Gain 7, Bass 7, Mid 5, Treble 5, Presence 5, Resonance 6, Master 6.5, Cab Brit 30
- Rig B (turn On): Stripe III, Gain 6, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Resonance 5.5, Master 5, Cab Brit 30, Pedal off
- Split on at 300 Hz: Rig A (with the fuzz) below, Rig B above
- Drive on: Fuzz, Drive 7, Tone 4, Level 6
- Gate off
Groove metal: "Groove Scoop"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Cowboy Solid, Gain 7, Bass 7, Mid 2, Treble 7, Presence 6, Resonance 6, Master 5, Cab Brit 75
- Drive off
- Gate on: -48 dB, Release 60 ms
Black metal: "Black Frost"
- Role Clean, Style Shred, Live Player off, single take
- Rig A: Frostbite, Gain 7, Bass 3, Mid 6, Treble 7, Presence 6, Resonance 3, Master 5, Cab US 12
- Reverb on: Size 70%, Decay 2.4 s, Mix 20%
- For tremolo-picked parts, use the tremolo keyswitch (G0, 31)
Classic rock crunch: "Plexi Crunch"
- Role Rhythm, Style Shred, Takes 2
- Rig A: Brit Super, Gain 7, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 6, Presence 5, Resonance 5, Master 7, Cab Brit 25
- Drive on: TS, Drive 3, Tone 6, Level 7
Shred lead: "Shred Lead"
- Role Lead, Style Shred, single take, Pickup 30%
- Rig A: Cali Lead, Gain 8, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Resonance 5, Master 5, Cab Brit 30
- Drive off
- Delay on: 1/8 dotted, Repeats 30%, Mix 20%
- Reverb on: Size 70%, Decay 2.4 s, Mix 18%
Blues and singing lead: "Smooth Singer"
- Role Lead, Style Bluesy, Feedback on, single take, Pickup 10% (neck)
- Rig A: Smooth Lead, Gain 7, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 5.5, Presence 5.5, Resonance 5, Master 5, Cab Brit 30
- Drive off
- Delay on: 1/4, Repeats 35%, Mix 18%
- Reverb on: Size 70%, Decay 2.4 s, Mix 22%
Hot-rodded lead: "Hot Brit Lead"
- Role Lead, Style Shred, single take
- Rig A: Hot Brit, Gain 7, Bass 5, Mid 6, Treble 6, Presence 6, Resonance 5.5, Master 5, Cab Brit 30
- Drive on: Klon, Drive 3, Tone 6, Level 7
- Delay on: 1/8 dotted, Repeats 30%, Mix 18%
- Reverb on: Size 70%, Decay 2.4 s, Mix 15%
Clean and ambient: "Glass Clean"
- Role Clean, Style Clean, single take
- Rig A: Glass, Gain 3, Bass 5, Mid 5, Treble 6, Presence 5, Resonance 4, Master 5, Cab US 12
- Drive off
- Comp on: Sustain 4
- Chorus on: Rate 0.6 Hz, Depth 40%, Mix 35%
- Delay on: 1/4 dotted, Repeats 30%, Mix 18%
- Reverb on: Size 85%, Decay 3.2 s, Mix 28%
Also in the factory list: Chime Jangle (Chime 30 at the edge of breakup, bright and ringing), Solid Clean (Solid Chorus, the cold wide clean) and Two Mics (one Cali Dual through a 57 up close and a ribbon a foot back, aligned).
5. Building a two-amp blend
This is the trick behind the Two Amp Wall preset, and it works for any two amps.
- Load Two Amp Wall, or start from a one-rig preset.
- Open the Rig B tab and turn Rig B On.
- Pick a tight amp for Rig A (the preset uses Block 51) and a thick one for Rig B (Cali Dual).
- Set Rig B's Level around -2 dB so one rig leads and the other adds body.
- Keep Align on. Watch the phase meter under each rig: right is in phase.
- If the blend still sounds thin, flip Invert on one rig, or sweep Phase by ear.
- For weight and bite split by frequency, use Split instead: set the crossover, and Rig A plays below it and Rig B above.
6. Using your own amp captures and cab IRs
In any rig, change Amp Type from Amp model to Capture and load a .nam file. A capture replaces the amp and its drive pedal. Gain sets how hard you drive the capture, and Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence shape it afterwards. Resonance and Master do not apply.
Set Cab Type to Your IR and load a cab impulse response (.wav). GT-X levels it on load so it plays about as loud as the built-in cabs. For a full-rig capture that already includes a cab, set Cab Type to Off.
7. GT-X FX: your own guitar
Load GT-X FX as an effect on an audio track holding your guitar. It has the same rigs, pedals, effects and presets as GT-X. It ignores the Guitarist settings, because the playing comes from you.
A good first step: load a factory preset such as Modern Wall, play your guitar, turn the Gate on and set its threshold just above your noise floor.
8. If something sounds wrong
- "Guitar samples not found": check the three sample folders listed above. Re-running the installer restores the library. GT-X FX never needs it.
- A hollow or phasey blend with several rigs: make sure Align is on, check the phase meters, then try Invert or Phase. Remember that a room mic on a rig with Align off keeps its natural delay.
- A keyswitch plays a note instead of changing the technique: you are in a low tuning. Use CC 20 for those techniques, or move the keyswitches an octave down.
- CPU is high: set Quality to Eco. Rigs on the same capture file at the same Gain share it, so they cost one capture.
- Playing sounds too tidy: raise Looseness, set Takes to 2, or switch the Live Player off for a more literal take.
- Found a bug or have an idea: Help at the top right has Report a Bug and Send a Suggestion. Copy Diagnostic Info first and paste it into your message.
The amps
The amps are Cinderhall's own designs, modelled on how classic circuits work. They are inspired by these amplifiers:
| GT-X model | Inspired by |
|---|---|
| Glass | Fender Twin Reverb |
| Solid Chorus | Roland JC-120 |
| Chime 30 | Vox AC30 Top Boost |
| Brit Super | Marshall Super Lead "Plexi" |
| Brit 800 | Marshall JCM800 2203 |
| Hot Brit | Friedman BE-100 |
| Cali Lead | Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ |
| Smooth Lead | Soldano SLO-100 |
| Cali Dual | Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier |
| Block 51 | Peavey 5150 |
| Stripe III | EVH 5150III |
| Teutonic | ENGL Powerball |
| Bavarian Four | Diezel VH4 |
| Meat & Steel | Fortin-modified Marshall |
| Citrus Verb | Orange Rockerverb |
| Über | Bogner Überschall |
| Cowboy Solid | Randall RG100ES |
| Frostbite | the solid-state black-metal sound |
All product names, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. They are used only to describe the sounds that inspired these designs. Cinderhall is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.
Credits
Guitar samples: Emilyguitar by Karoryfer Samples (Epiphone Emily the Strange guitar played and mapped by D. Smolken), CC0 1.0 Universal (public domain).